Nick and Judy were sitting tensely in Bogo's office. "I'm going to answer your question right now. Yes, I did call you here so that you can't just run off to Forestvale. Because the battle between the Night Dragons and the Unseens Eyes and their allies is no place for you. Especially considering what happened in and around the Battle of Zootopia."
"Which we survived," Judy said. "Okay I was a robot for almost a year, but we lived long enough to get married at least!"
"And the fact that sentence doesn't weird me out is all the more tragic," Nick commented.
"Look, Anna personally requested that you two be benched," Bogo said in annoyance. "You two are great cops, quite possibly the best this city has ever seen. But that does not give you leave to chase after every wrong. Some things are just beyond our ability to combat." Bogo said as he quickly downed a mug of his favorite tea. "And fighting an entire army of Vampires and whatever else the Night Dragons have at their disposal. Yeah, I think it goes without saying that two cops probably won't help in that. And yes, I know you both have personal reasons for wanting to bring down Mulerson and Long-Fang. But this is bigger than two mammals' personal revenge." Bogo then pulled out a giant folder.
"What's that?" Judy asked.
"This, this is a list of everyone who died during the Battle of Zootopia," Bogo said grimly. He then pulled out another equally large folder. "And this is a list of everyone that served through that nasty week." He then pulled out yet another folder. "This is a list of all of the property damage." This went for several minutes as Bogo got more and more folders filled with paperwork relating to the Battle of Zootopia and the fallout.
"Okay! We get it! This whole thing is literally bigger than us!" Nick said in disbelief. "Seriously, I'm pretty sure all that paperwork could turn Judy and me into a bloody paste if it fell on us."
At this point, the piles of folders obscured Bogo. "The point I'm trying to get across here is that your not the only one's with an ostrich in this race. And I don't want you two playing hero just because you want to nail these madmen to the wall."
"We just wanted to help," Judy said.
"And that's commendable, but seriously don't go throwing your lives away for purely personal reasons," Bogo said pleadingly. "Please?... just this once?"
"Eh... Anna's a big girl." Nick said.
"Yeah, she could probably handle whatever is going on there without our help," Judy said.
XXXX
In Forestville. Anna was hiding in an alleyway from the forces of the Night Dragons, specifically a patrol of robotized mammals. "I don't believe this. We gave that benighted Aesir one job. And he completely blows it!" She said to herself in frustration. "Honestly, how hard is it to keep us in the loop about something like this?"
"In my defense," Loki said as he exited a nearby building. "How could have I known? Neither Mulerson nor Long-Fang spoke of this, at least not when I got within earshot of them. Not sure if they suspected that I was spying or not." The trickster deity said.
"Perhaps but- wait, where's Angela and Elsa?" Anna asked.
"I hid them away when the chaos started," Loki said. "With any luck there still in the basement of her grandparents home."
"And your sure that the elder Wildes aren't compromised?" Anna demanded.
"If they were, I would have known before you ever suspected." Loki bragged. "But yeah, back to the subject of Mulersons insane plan."
"This is the mule's idea?!" Anna said in aggravation.
"Yes, now be quiet. This town is overrun by robot mammals and whatever undead horrors that Long-Fang could muster." Loki then processed the sentence he just said. "There was a time in history when that sequence of things would never have come together in a sentence in real life."
Anna then thought of the Vampire Vaccine that she got from Clancy. "Oh, you have no idea Foxfeyson. But right now, I need to inform the First Among Equals what's going on before-" She was then interrupted by Mulerson landing behind the Vampire and the trickster god. "Oh... you've got to be kidding me."
XXXX
The following day, Nick and Judy were doing their patrol on Sesame Street. Specifically, they were writing up Oscar the Grouch for littering. "Are you seriously going to give me a ticket over a crumby napkin?" Oscar said incredulously as he looked at the napkin in question, and indeed it was covered in cookie crumbs.
"Well, you're the most likely culprit," Judy said.
"And before you say anything, we happen to know for a fact that Cookie Monster is on vacation in Haiti so you can shift the blame of this onto him," Nick said.
Oscar just growled as he descended into his can. "We... we're trying to give a citation for littering," Judy said in disbelief.
"Yeah, this is definitely a step DOWN from being hero cops I'm not going to lie," Nick said in agreement with his wife. "Nothing ever happens in this neighborhood. And while Forestvale... my sister and grandparents are threatened, and we're stuck here!" He said anxiously.
"Being upset about this won't make it any easier," Judy said as she gave her husband a reassuring hug. "Look, we'll go down to Hoopers. It's close to our lunch break anyway."
The two mammals went to Hooprs Store and got lunch. "Another slow day?" Alan asked.
"We wrote up Oscar for littering, that tell you anything, big guy?" Nick said as Alan served them their meals.
Judy then looked up at the TV. "Alan, could you turn up the volume?" She asked.
"It's just the news. It's always bad and upsetting to Elmo." Elmo said frankly.
Alan went ahead and turned up the volume on the TV. "We now return to our top story. Forestvale, a fairly calm and quiet town that's located roughly two-hundred miles from Zootopia. Has come under a strange phenomenon." Fabienne Growley introduced. "For more details, our field reporter Collin Meerkatly is on the scene."
"Oh! I like that guy!" Elmo said.
"I'm here at Forestvale... and I'm just as confused as everyone else," Colin said. "Drew, can you get a shot of them?" The camera then glanced at a column of robotized Mammals.
"Colin... if I'm not mistaken those are the same kinds of robots that were created by Dr. Mulerson." Fabienne noted.
"Oh, you think?" Colin responded. "Point is, Forestvale is overrun with these robots. But that's not even the worst of it." He and Drew then snuck past the patrol. "Drew, get a look at this," Colin said, and Drew turned the camera onto a Vampire in its full form. "I got no idea what that is. But it's creepy... and probably related to this whole sordid affair."
"Indeed you are right mousier Meerkatly." Delphine, Draco's second in command from behind the cameraman. "I am ready for my close up Mr. Deville."
"Elmo thought his name was Drew," Elmo noted.
Nick and Judy looked with despair. "The time of mortals... is over. The time of the unliving has come at last!" Delphine was then knocked unconscious by a Vampire Bat.
"The heck is that?" Nick asked of Judy, she just shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it looks like things are going sideways in Forestvale."
"Fabienne... I don't know what's going on. And what I'm seeing isn't helping." Colin said exhaustedly. "Nobodies here to stop this, and nobody here seems to be... well themselves."
"What's happening Alan? Elmo scarred." Elmo said.
XXXX
"So we're going to get an earful when Bogo hears about this," Nick said he and his wife drove to Forestvale.
"Only if we come back alive," Judy said grimly.
Eventually, they arrived, finding the town in chaos as robots and Vampiric monsters ran around freely in broad daylight. "Oh this is actually worse than the news made it look," Nick said. "Thankfully they don't seem to be-" then the police cruiser was then overturned, throwing both Nick and Judy out of the car. "Nevermind... I really should have learned to keep my mouth shut about that sort of thing by now."
The two of them looked at the one who had caught them off guard. "Dr. Mulerson... of course, it's you," Judy said with contempt.
"Oh please... call me the Mule." The robotic mule said. "I see that you couldn't keep away from me... but then again I remade you Sierra Ultima."
"Her name is Judy!" Nick said as he fired on the Mule.
"Bullets cannot harm me... and I must thank you, officers. Had you not thrown me into that vat, not only would I have not survived the Battle of Zootopia... but for giving me a new perspective on things." The Mule rambled. "You see when I first awoke in this new body, it dawned on me. I didn't go far enough in my plans... I should turn all Mammals into robots! Not just mules!"
"Dang it Nick, he's clearly bulletproof!" Judy yelled.
"So since then, I've been plotting alongside Draco Long-Fang to bring about my vision... under the pretense that I'm all onboard with his insane plot for revenge." The Mule continued.
"YOUR ONE TO TALK FRANCIS!" Nick shrieked as he kept ineffectually firing his gun at the Mule.
"And soon... I will share this gift with every single person on this Earth. And that will just be the beginning of my long deserved godhood." The Mule's head then exploded, and Loki stepped out of the shadows with a sniper rifle in hand.
"No. You. Won't." He said as he discharged a used shell. "Nick, Judy, we need to move. Now."
XXXX
Eventually, they met up at Nick's grandparents' home. "We're safe here," Loki said as he closed the door behind them. "But by now Yorrick's regenerated his head."
"Wait... how long has this been going on? What is even happening?" Judy asked anxiously.
"Well, that's a bit of a story to tell," Loki said as he led them downstairs to the basement. There was Angela, pacing around the room muttering 'this is not happening'. Sierra and Ultima fruitlessly trying to calm the vixen down. While Nick's grandparents read a book together. And Anna Blackpaw sitting in a corner using some kind of magical artifact. "I've got survivors!"
"Nick!" Angela then ran to hug her brother. "We're going to be alright!"
"Yeah... what exactly is going on?" Nick said. "I mean it's obvious that there are robots and Vampires running around openly. But why now when they've been here for months?"
Anna put away her artifact. "I've just finished informing the First Among Equals and the others about the situation."
"And what is the situation?" Judy asked of her twin brother's girlfriend.
"I won't mince words Judy... those madmen plan to start up an entire war of conquest. And the first step is to turn Forrestvale into an artificial meteor." Anna said grimly.
Judy looked surprised. "What?... how?"
"There an insane mule with a god complex and an understanding of science beyond any living mortal, and a Vampire wolf with a multinational corporation and a Cabal at his beck and call," Anna said. "They can pull this off. I've seen the technology for myself. I've looked over the papers from the Night Dragons. That is what these monsters are planning, and if we don't move quickly, then Forestvale being destroyed will be the least of our worries."
At this Angela fell to the floor, and started sobbing. "Angela my love!" Loki said as he went to comfort his girlfriend. "It's going to be okay... as scary as all of this must be to you. I swear to you, this will all end better than it began." He said as he hugged the mentally battered vixen.
"Because we're going to save this town," Nick said, then the logic of the situation dawned on him. "Although we can't do that alone."
XXXX
Unknown to anyone, the enigmatic leaders of the International Defence League were mobilizing for the coming battle. "Think we can keep everyone alive this time?" The future Nick asked of his one-eyed wife.
"We only have one chance to get this right." The future Judy said. "Regardless, we need to help our younger selves with this ordeal. Save Forestvale, and destroy Dr. Yorick Titan-Ear once and for all."
"And Draco Long-Fang. Can't forget about him." Nick said.
"Perhaps... but ultimately the Night Dragons will never recover from this," Judy said. "And besides... according to a certain stool pigeon his fate won't be in our hands anyway." She then picked up Clancy. "Isn't that right?"
XXXX
To be continued...